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Review: PhatCat's Bday @ Footwork, Jan 5
Wooooweee. I'm STILL recovering from this...and it was supposed to be a LIGHT night for me after last weekend (er, last Monday...that's only like, 5 days ago..new years MADNESS, or what??) Note: Review CC'd to HouseAddict, fyi!
So may I present to you, Ni-Cd's latest review...
So Leap was too sick to go out to Cat's bday, and by rights, I should probably have rested up from NY as well, but it was Cat's bday--I HAD to show my love for the gal and go. So I rounded up some friends... I don't think the three of us had been together since sa-slam boat cruise!!! And we got sa-slammed on that cruise. We decided to get semi-sa-slammed this time around too.
So we hopped into "Kit" after a few drinks at home, with the passengers safely stowed with appropriate travel mugs.
Not 15 mins from my house though...we encountered... this... 
I pulled up to the block, realizing i had a few drinks before hand, and suddenly being very nervous! The police officer asked if i had anything to drink. "Yes officer, I had v-v-vodka and uhh, pepsi--i mean, strawberry vodka with pepsi, a glass or two" -- he looks at me "Strawberry vodka and pepsi?" and gives me look of digust. :angry: "How long ago sir?" ... "Uhmm, about 15 mins ago"... He steps back "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to pull over and await further instructions." My passengers are all freaked out now...are we busted? They put their travel mugs aside... He comes back to me "follow me, sir."
So I follow him to the NUMEROUS police vehicles... "I'm kinda nervous, because I've never done one of these before!" I say to him. He looks over and gives me a small smile... "Ok, two things are going to happen. The first thing is going to sound formal and mean. the second thing is a breathlizer test, ok?" I nod my assent. "Sir, I demand you take a breathalizer test under section 23523532532 of the code of . If you refuse, I will arrest you and detain you for refusing the order of an officer. Will you take the test?" I nod my assent again, freaked. He sets up the device with a small mouth piece "Can I have that mouth piece when we're done?" I ask... "Sure you can. I don't want it, it'll have your germs on it, heh" So he tells me that i have three chances to do a proper blow. That's right. A proper blow. If I fail three times, they'll take me to jail. LOL. An eight second breath is required. So I endeavour to give the officer a proper blow, as per his instructions, so I don't go to jail... when finshed, he gives me the mouth piece as a souvenir, and looks at the device. "You had a drink 15 mins ago, sir? you sure?" At this point, I'm REALLY nervous... i say 'yes... that's my closest approximation...' he turns the device towards me, which reads 0.0... 'sir, you have no alcohol in your bloodstream at all. better get whoever mixed your drink in some trouble.' I laughed, thanked him and shook his hand. You know what? Super-nice guy. We were on our way again.
Oh, chk it, my souvenir:
And we were on our way again...with adrenaline pumping so hard through my body I swear I was gonna have a panic attack. Naw, not really. I was cool as ice. Like Ice man.
We were pumping out the beats on the way down, and talking about how nervous we were to be pulled over by the cops after having ONE drink! Note to self: stay so innocently responsible 4 ever.
We parked in the usual spot off Richmond & Spadina, and had a redbull & vodka in the car before going in. The in-club drink of anywhere from 7.50 - 11.00 now cost us the can of redbull (2.99) and some vodka ($1 worth?). Take that, club drink prices!!
Ok, with that comment out in the open, I should say... the clubs we enjoy make their money MOSTLY from the alcohol & drinks purchased throughout the night. Thinking of the business side of things, that's what provides the venue, the ambiance, the DJs, and so on. Cover is part of that, but most of the revenue is from bar-serve. As a result, I try not to complain about drink prices, especially if I enjoy the venue. Footwork has reasonable prices, and they've recently upgraded (new walls, sound system and decorations. I'd be upset about drink prices if i went to a hole, with no music, no ambiance, and they charged huge... but most of the clubs are on par, and make a reasonable markup in order to provide the environment we love to party in, and make profits on top of that. I have no problem with capitalism.  That being said, I have to chill out on being at so many parties, cause I'm goin' broke, lol! Everything in moderation... (end editorial, lol)
...back to our party. We were headed to Footwork... that has become my FAVOURITE friday night haunt. It has GREAT sound, presents the locals as part of their Domestic Friday program, and the ambiance is fantastic. JJ is a good host, and the staff are fantastic, I find. I think I met one of the owners last night, Steph. I didn't get the chance to tell him, but from the party perspective, the venue is great, and the cover always reasonable. Ok, /end plug for Footwork, lol. If you haven't been there, get out and check it out on Friday, and come say hi if you see me.
We snuggled up to the bar to figure out what our first drinks were gonna be... Mike looks like he's ready to get the party GOIN'! Lauren looks sceptical, but the truth is, with Vinyl Junkies all ready rocking out the tunes for the 'social hour' (10-11:30 ish) we're all eager to get this party STARTED! .... where's Cat?!
We opted for Smirnoff Ice with a lime... my favourite drink...
Mike says "Really...it's this big..."
I took a moment to go up to the decks and wish Vince and Val a happy new year, and introduce them to Lauren as well... Vince was on the decks and Val was killing me by blowing a horn (what's with all the blowing references in this review??). I wonder if these guys know how much they killed it last weekend and NYD @ the zone? Holy moly guys, I'm still recovering.... luckily, they had the opening set, so it wasn't pounding just yet, thankfully; time for us to relax, socialize, enjoy the beats and watch the club fill up. And fill up it did...
Missy & brandi showed up for Cat's bday, JUST before the 11:30 GL cut off.
Then one of my favourite dancin' gals showed up in a very stylish outfit...
More and more people poured in, it was a regular reunion; we saw DaveS at the beginning of the night, and he was kind enough to ask how Leap was doing (they both had sinus infections. It's that kind of bonding thing. Mutual sickness bonding. It's friendly).
I was THRILLED to see tamiko arrive, it had been quite a while since we had danced it out, and she brings a special energy and style to the dance floor that really gets the crowd going who's watchin' her go.
Also met up with Sasha... it's always so good to have this guy's energy at a club. He got a picture with Tamiko, and MagikB from TA... it was MagikB's bday on Thursday!! (She celebrated it @ )(otel, of course). Happy birthday Jennerz! It was great seeing you again after partying it up HARD with you at CoZo.
Oh, enter funny story about NY, Jennerz and I. So Nathan Barato is spinning and I come up to the decks, and Jenn is there, and I dance it up enthusiastically next to her. She says 'this music is AWESOME!' I'm like "I KNOW!! Who is this guy??" (pointing at Nathan)...she says, earnestly "His name is Nathan Barato--he rocks!!" I couldn't help letting a little smirk come across, and she slaps me "ohhh, you know who he is,lol! You just sketched me out, didn't you? You're going to write this in your review, aren't you?!" ... well Jenn, here it is. hahaha. Great memories.
irGO also showed up, and I threw him a promised Addy DVD...(gotta get more, lol, everyone is asking me for em)..
Btw, irGO's bday bash is coming up, make sure you check it out!! Some sweet flier artwork too: irGO's Birthday Bash LINK
Then, looking around, I finally saw the gal of the hour...in fact, she found me, if memory serves correctly--a HUGE hug from behind, and a turn around, and the girl of the hour has arrived!! CAT!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAT!! I dedicate this review to you. One of my FAVOURITE people. Cat is one of the most friendly, honest, caring people I have met in the scene, and I have the honor and pleasure of getting to know her in the last year. Cat, <3 u gal! Never change! W00t w00t! That's ElKDee in the background. See his eye in the background behind us?
At this time, JJ gets on the Mic and does a shout-out ... Happy Birthday Cat! (I cannot recall if this was before or just after you arrived cat, but i got a shot of it!)
Wiiiicked!!
Anas Attia showed up, and I got a picture of him, JJ and Disco...the party was warming up SOLID!
This reminds me... Disco and I were chatting, and a fellow comes over and says (i can't remember the exact words) "Dude, your set at the Zone last night was Sic!!!" Disco and I look at each other, and literally barrell over laughing. I swear, people mistaking Disco for DEKO-ZE will NEVER get old. Disco has such a great humour about it too... that was uber-funny. The poor guy had no idea. I can't remember if Lyle set him straight or not. P.s.--> thanks for GL Disco!!
I swear, my doctor is gonna give me crap, because up to the decks came Nin-Sane-Nathan-Barato...and i had flashbacks of being in NAM, with my senses completely distorted, amazed and blown away!! oh wait...that was at the zone, new years day, only last Monday! Was my body ready for another onslaught? The nin-sanity came on quick, and we all became slaves to the rhythm:
I think that Nathan must have read my NYD review, because he dropped some SIC tracks that made me steal a line from David Ace: "FOUR of my closest family members would have to die for me to miss this set!!!!" (we should start a thread of Ace-club-sayings...they are sweet.). The track was Insomnia - faithless... and then, as if to slam my brain to the top left inch of my skull, Nathan dropped DJ Misjah - On My Back, right after. Holy mother of some religious saint! What's this man trying to do? I think he needs to have a warning issued. DJ Misjah - On my back has special relevance because Nathan dropped it at his Lawler/Guv gig back in June--because who wouldn't want to hear that track in the big room of the guv? Fantastic memories. Lawler & NYD tied together and delivered in one startling brain-slam. Nathan: Thank you. (i was pretty excited.)
Catch the vid here (forgive the cut of the drop...BAD sheldon. BAD).
Dload a crappy sounding vid here, vid-whores!
Kriskool was lovin' the set too... Holy, that's a red tongue!
Lauren and I danced it up by the speakers and I snapped a picture of her and the crowd... see the girl on the right in the white-ish shirt? That's a COOL shirt! It's like there's newspaper articles printed on it or something... i noticed it later, looking at the pix, but very cool shirt. Kudos!
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